Virginia Guide 2017 Destination Virginia : Page 2

MOUNTAINS SEA ROYAL NEW KENT, PROVIDENCE FORGE T here was a time, long ago, when Virginia’s golf future looked like a clean stretch of sand in need of some footprints. Not anymore. That was actually the picture before the arrival of some wondrously talented golf course designers – artists who began transforming vast landscapes into some of the finest natural courses the world had ever seen. From the earliest seeds planted in 1892 (when The Homestead added six holes of golf to its hotel in Hot Springs) sprouted layouts that spread from the mountains to the coastal plain. Over a span of more than a hundred years, a long list of experts touched the fertile Virginia surface, leaving behind creative imprints for others to enjoy. One of them, world-renowned architect Rees Jones, still impacts the scenery. Having learned his trade from his legendary father, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Jones has not only taken over the mantel of “U.S. Open Doctor,” but also has become an on-going curator of a collection of upper-level courses he claims across Virginia. From his trio of valley floor nines at Wintergreen Resort’s Stoney Creek Course in the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the dramatic Club at Viniterra in the state’s geographical transition zone, to the esteemed Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in the capital of Colonial Virginia, to the swampland of Hell’s Point along the coast, Jones has left his own indelible footprints in the Virginia soil. His expertise and perspective are not only valued DESTINATION VIRGINIA 2017 2